A Preview of LEGO Marvel Superheroes

Remember when LEGO bricks were just … bricks? Yeah, me neither. The fully licensed LEGO Hogwarts and hobbit holes perching proudly on your kids’ shelves make the red plastic loose-brick bucket seem like the mascot of a bygone era.

As if the classic builder’s toy hasn’t changed enough in the last half century, LEGO has recently been releasing multi-player action video games to accompany some of their bigger licensed toy sets.

Want to know the kicker? The LEGO games are actually really really good.

LEGO started out in the ’90s making construction and building SIM games, but things really got interesting when they started making action games, like LEGO Star Wars. The game was a surprise hit, and following its success, LEGO made other licensed titles, like LEGO Indiana Jones, Pirates of the Caribbean and Batman. These games work because they don’t take themselves too seriously, but are also really solid action games in their own right.

It should come as no surprise that the oddly popular LEGO gaming franchise has made Marvel its next brand partner. With the wild success of the Avergers films and the hype around the upcoming Marvel MMO, it’s the perfect time for LEGO Marvel Super Heroes to swoop in with a slightly satirical family action game featuring Iron Man and Wolverine in signature yellow blocky LEGO style.

According to the game developer TT Studios, LEGO Marvel Super Heroes will allow you to unlock up to 100 different Marvel Heroes to fight infamous villains in comic booky locales like LEGO New York. Apparently, the Silver Surfer’s surfboard fell out from under him and broke into a bunch of LEGO brickey pieces, so the Avengers are assembled to keep the blocks from falling into the wrong hands. Whatever, I just want to fly around in Iron Man’s adorable LEGO suit.

It would certainly be a missed opportunity if LEGO didn’t create actual Marvel construction sets to accompany the game, and if you’ve been hitting up Target with your kids on a regular basis, you know that LEGO’s all over it. They’ve been busy putting out LEGO versions of the scenes from the Spider-man, Iron Man and X-Men films for some time, and each provides a cool way for your kids to bridge the gap between the video game and real-life imaginative play.

By the way, LEGO also puts out DC Super Heroes building sets, so you can finally settle that fierce family debate about whether the Justice League could take out the Avengers.